TV station’s office in Baghdad closed
BAGHDAD, Iraq – The Iraqi government Monday ordered the closure of the Baghdad office of a Dubai-based television station whose newscaster wore black mourning clothes while reporting on the hanging of Saddam Hussein.
A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said the Al-Sharqiya station, owned by a former chief of radio and television for Saddam, had incited violence and hatred in its coverage and had ignored warnings to stop.
Abdul-Karim Khalaf, the spokesman, said the order was issued after an allegedly false report by the news channel about the abduction of three Sunni Arab female students from a university.
But the order also followed criticism of the tone of Al-Sharqiya’s coverage of Saturday’s execution, which struck some as sympathetic to the ousted dictator.
In contrast to state-run television reports that described Saddam as a “tyrant” and “criminal,” a newscaster on Al-Sharqiya – which means “The Eastern One” – referred to him Sunday as “president.”
Iraq’s government is dominated by the country’s Shiite Muslim majority. Al-Sharqiya is sometimes mocked by critics as “Al-Baathiya” for its alleged sympathies for Saddam’s outlawed Baath Party, which had helped Iraq’s Sunni minority rule the country.
Al-Sharqiya reported Monday night that its offices in Baghdad were raided and sealed by Iraqi authorities. But the station said those offices were vacated three months ago in response to attacks on staff.
Al-Sharqiya remained on the air Monday, broadcasting video of a protest against Saddam’s execution.
State-run Al-Iraqiya may have referred to the controversy over Al-Sharqiya’s coverage when it criticized reporting on Saddam’s death by rival Iraqi and regional Arab television stations.
“The execution of Saddam unveiled the many masks of those who don’t like to see a strong, civilized and developed Iraq,” an Al-Iraqiya newscaster said Monday. “The male and female news readers of some Arab and Iraqi satellite channels rushed to their cupboards to wear their black clothes, announcing their sorrow about the joy of Iraqis.”
The government did not specifically cite the controversy over Al-Sharqiya’s coverage of Saddam’s execution in explaining the closure.